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Alunno di Benozzo

active late 15th century-early 16th century

Florentine School. Active late fifteenth century. The designation,(1) which means pupil of Benozzo, indicates that he was chiefly influenced by Benozzo Gozzoli, whom he may have assisted in the 1480s. Later he was influenced also by Umbrian and Sienese artists. He is identical with the so-called Esiguo Master;(2) but the recent attempt to identify him, on the basis of one signed painting, as Amadeo da Pistoia is not convincing.(3) References: (1) B. Berenson (in Bollettillo d'Arte, vol. XXV, 1932, pp. 293 ff.; Dedalo, vol. XII, 1932, pp. 837 ff.) coined the name Alunno di Benozzo, characterized the artist's style, and identified paintings and drawings by him. (2) R. Longhi (in Vita Artistica, vol. II, 1927, pp. 68 ff.) applied this designation to the anonymous artist whom Berenson calls Alunno di Benozzo. (3) See W. E. Suida in his catalogue of the Kress Collection in the Denver Art Museum, 1954, p. 34. The signed picture is reproduced by B. Berenson, Italian Pictures ... Florentine School, vol. II, 1963, fig. 909. In this, his only autograph painting, Amadeo's poses, especially of the hands, are more mannered than Alunno' s; his drapery treatment is softer; his landscape background is of a more northern character, less like Gozzoli's Arno Valley views. G. Coor (in Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, vol. XX, 1961, no. I, p. 20) discusses the identifica­tion of Alunno di Benozzo with Amadeo da Pistoia on the basis of the signed painting and finds the identification unconvincing.
Image Artist Artwork Title Date School K No. Repository